The chairman of the traditional rulers in Ondo state and the Deji of Akureland, Oba Aladetoyinbo Aladelusi, yesterday, urged the Federal government not to entertain any fear by approving state security outfits to bear arms to defend their people against rampaging criminals.
Oba Aladelusi, said this at the 2022 annual Ulefunta public lecture, titled ‘Curbing Electoral Violence and Associated Crimes in Contemporary Nigeria: Roles of Traditional Institutions in Perspective.’
The monarch, in his remarks, said: “The Federal government has nothing to fear, Amotekun and other security outfits in states should be allowed to bear arms to defend their people.
“Without mincing words, I want to plead with the Federal Government to consider the need to approve sophisticated weapons for the Amotekun Corps.
“The need for the Amotekun Corps to complement the already stretched Federal Police can no longer be overemphasized.
“The issue of security has become worrisome even in the face of uncertainty and worsening security situation ranging from banditry, kidnapping, and oil theft, killings, and terrorism, ethnic and religious bigotry among others.
“The Amotekun Corps is one of the homegrown approaches that is yielding the desired result and I strongly believe that the huge success recorded is because the Traditional Rulers were adequately involved and carried along in the scheme of things.
“It is crystal clear that the reality has now dawned on us to involve our traditional institutions as a means of providing a homegrown approach to curbing insecurity.”
Also speaking, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, represented by his deputy, Mr Lucky Ayedatiwa, insisted that his administration would equip the state security outfit codenamed Amotekun legally.
Akeredolu said: “We, as government, are resolute hence we have continued to empower and strengthen the security architecture of the state to ensure we are all protected.
“In our efforts to give a sense of belonging to our traditional rulers, we recently implemented part of the recommendation of the Justice Ajama Commission after a thorough review.
“This has led to the upgrading of some traditional rulers and the approval of new ones for the deserved communities.”
